Trial By Fire
by Starway Man
Summary: Xander gets possessed by someone who Giles knew back in his ‘Ripper’ days. And this DOES have consequences during the first half of season 2. COMPLETE
1. Bad To The Bone

**Date written: **Sun 9 Mar 2008

**Authors:** Starway Man and Nodakskip

**E-mail:** theop at kew dot hotkey dot net dot au, Nodakskip at aol dot com

**Disclaimer:** Anything regarding Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Sandollar, Kuzui, CW, and whoever else it is these days; no copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being earned from this story. Those parts of the fanfic taken directly from the various episodes belong to the writers who scripted them. And anything else mentioned that's subject to any form of copyright belongs to the owners in question.

**Rating: **R

**Warnings: **Some violence, character death, bad language and sexual references are present

**Main characters: **Xander, ensemble

**Classification:** Action-Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Romance

**Acknowledgments:** Thanks to Buffyworld for the transcripts used in writing this story, as well as our beta reader Francis Eugene. Seriously, dude, it's called going above and beyond, and it's much appreciated.

**Summary: **Xander gets possessed by someone who Giles knew back in his 'Ripper' days. And this DOES have consequences during the first half of season 2.

**Title: **Trial By Fire

* * *

X: "You can't just go 'librum incendere' and expect..."

R: "Xander, don't speak Latin in front of the books."

(Xander Harris and Rupert Giles, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER)

* * *

**Chapter One: Bad To The Bone**

**Sunnydale High School Parking Lot, Sunnydale**

**October 29th, 1997**

**5:05 pm**

Alexander LaVelle Harris had had quite a few interesting adventures since starting his junior year of high school.

There had been Parent-Teacher Night, where he had been held in a headlock and offered to the vampire named Spike as a free meal. A female foreign exchange student calling herself Ampata had turned out to actually be a life-sucking Inca Mummy girl instead, almost killing him as well as his best friend Willow Rosenberg. There had also been an incident with a demon reptile-worshipping cult at one of the local fraternity houses. His classmate and arch-nemesis Cordelia Chase had dragged Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, to a Crestwood College frat party where they had both been drugged and chained up as virgin sacrifices for the creature called Machida. Xander had followed them there, and spent most of the evening being humiliated in almost every way imaginable.

But the worst indignity of all was his parents, after hearing what his teachers had had to say about him, forcing him to become more involved with school affairs. An opportunity had just become available, and so he'd been drafted as the varsity cheerleaders' equipment manager.

"God!" Xander shouted out for all the student body to hear. "What the hell do you three even have in here?"

"Just the little things," Harmony Kendall replied with a grin.

"Yeah, well, I can see now why Mark quit," Harris commented as he groaned and lifted the enormous equipment bag into the back of the minivan. "One down, five to go..."

Harmony just patted him patronizingly on the back. "Buck up there, Harris. You have every guy's dream job after all!"

Xander glared back at her. "And how is that?"

Harmony looked at him like it was obvious. "Why, you get to work with the most beautiful girls in the entire school!" She turned away and left, giggling at his grumbling protest.

* * *

**Girls Locker Room, Sunnydale High**

**A few minutes later**

"How's Harris doing?" Aura asked Harmony, as the black cheerleader fastened her bra.

"Great, I'm surprised to say," Harmony admitted as she took off her yellow cheerleader sweater. "He's still constantly complaining, but I don't think he'll spaz out like Mark did."

"Good," Aura replied, slipping on her street clothes. "And God, that has to be the last time we ever let a freshman be our equipment slave!"

"At least we have some decent eye candy this time," Harmony said, with an upraised eyebrow. "I can't believe that dork actually has a body like that! I wonder why he hides it with those eye-searing clothes."

"He must need those muscles if he hangs around Buffy Summers," Aura figured. "She's in a gang, right?"

"Has to be," Harmony answered absently, stripping off the rest of her clothes for a shower.

"And what are you two gossiping about?" Cordelia asked, coming in from the shower block and wearing nothing but a wet towel.

"Our new slave and eye candy," Aura told her with a smile. "Cordelia, I have to hand it to you. How did you know he had a chest like that?"

"Oh, I got a preview last week," Cordelia said as she started putting on her clothes. "You know the mansion across the street from me? The one they can never sell?"

"Yeah?" Harmony replied, not seeing the connection.

Cordelia grinned. "Well, it seems the realtor is a friend of his mom's. So he hired Xander to mow the lawn, because it so totally needed it. It was like a jungle over there." She looked over to her friends and said conspiratorially, "It's like ten in the morning and I hear this lawnmower going, breaking into my doctor-prescribed beauty sleep. I look out my bedroom window so I can yell at the subhuman goon responsible, I mean really...and then I see the most salty slab of meat this side of Kansas pouring a bottle of water over his head and bare chest. I mean, those shoulders! And those abs! Now that, girls, was my kinda entertainment. Very drool-worthy!"

Cordelia's wolfish man-eating grin was as big and bright as the new day, her eyes glazing over as she recalled the vision. The other girls were hanging on her every word as Miss Chase shook herself out of it to continue the story. "Then he turns around and wipes the hair out of his face, and I see that it's Xander-freakin'-Harris! My jaw hit the floor so hard, I tell you, it must have registered on the Richter-scale."

Aura shook her head to break away from the yummy mental image. "All that buried under all those god-awful baggy clothes. It should be a crime!"

"Well, I guess now it's obvious why you got Mrs. Nelson to draft that dork as our temporary helper," Harmony told her best friend.

Cordelia looked back at Harmony. "You're going to see the sophomores tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

Handing her a slip of paper Cordy said, "They have an assignment. I got Xander's shirt size, make sure they get some tighter shirts for him."

* * *

**Outside the locker room**

**A little bit later**

Xander was getting a drink of much needed water when he heard someone yell out, "Harris!"

Xander's head snapped up at the angry shout. "Principal Snyder," he said as the small man stormed over to him. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"What do you think you're doing on school grounds at this time of day?" the little man demanded. Looking at the nearby door the principal arrived at his own answer. "You were putting a video camera in the girls' locker room, weren't you?!"

"What?" Xander asked, shocked. "No! I was-"

"Oh, I smell an expulsion coming on! You make me sick, you perverted little..." the principal growled at him, only to be cut off.

"No, it's okay, Principal Snyder!" Cordelia's voice called out as the door opened. "He's with us."

Snyder looked at her with annoyance. "What? What are you talking about, Miss Chase? I know for a fact he's not one of your crowd."

"Mrs. Nelson made him our new equipment sla-manager," Cordy quickly corrected herself. "So he has to be at practice, which just got finished like twenty minutes ago."

The principal was rather upset he couldn't get Xander on this one, but when he remembered the clipboard in his hand Snyder smiled. "Fine, then. While you're here, you can both sign up for Halloween night."

"What?" Cordy squealed in dismay.

Snyder handed her a pen. "The school's volunteer safety program. I need volunteers."

"But I have a party to go to tomorrow night!" the high school princess said hastily. "At the Mayor's house. My parents said I totally have to be there."

"The Mayor?" Snyder said a little nervously. "Well, that's different." The evil little troll grabbed the pen back and then turned to Xander. "But I'm sure that you of all people aren't going to be attending the festivities, Harris."

"Well, Principal Snyder, sir, I actually had plans as well-"

"They don't matter. The program's only from four 'til six, you'll have plenty of time later for tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples or whatever pathetic thing it is you were going to do on Halloween." In the face of Snyder's authority, Xander reluctantly signed. "Now don't forget, costumes are mandatory. I expect to see you wearing something decent tomorrow night, or else you'll be in detention for the rest of your natural life!" Snyder stormed away.

Dismissing the school commandant from his thoughts, Xander glanced at Cordy. "You're going to a Halloween party at Mayor Wilkins' place?"

Cordelia instinctively put on her haughty mask. "Attend a gathering of geriatric charity cases? As if! My parents are going, but I've got my own party to go to. I'll make up an excuse and leave after we get there."

"Right. Well, thanks for helping out, y'know, with the expulsion thing," he said grudgingly.

"You're welcome, I suppose. So what are you gonna dress up as, anyway?"

Harris shrugged. "I've got a set of army surplus fatigues at home. I'll pick up a toy rifle or something to complete the look."

"Lame-o," Cordelia curled up her lip at him. "Look, I know it'll be a challenge for you, but try to think of something a bit more original than just being G.I. Joe, okay? Oh, please, what am I saying – you certainly can't afford to burn out the two working brain cells you've got left. Ask Giles or your two loser friends to help you pick something out. After all, you don't even sneeze without their permission, right?"

Xander glared at his female nemesis as she walked off, hips swaying. But he was also a teenage guy, so even as he loathed her Xander couldn't help checking out her incredible-looking ass. ( _One day, one day – ack! No! Focus!_ )

* * *

**Sunnydale, California**

**October 31st, 1997**

**5:45 pm**

Xander was in a fairly good mood as he started to shepherd his sugar-hyped little kids back to the school. The costume he had on had a lot to do with it, as well as the reactions of Cordelia Chase and her herd of sheep earlier on.

The teenager had decided to abandon his plan of being a soldier for the night. Instead, he had raided his closet for a decent pair of black jeans and his cleanest white tee, and borrowed a 1970s leather jacket from Giles. At Ethan's Costume Shoppe, while Buffy had picked up her noblewoman's dress and Willow her ghost outfit, he also picked up a nose ring. Looking very much the rebel without a cause when he showed up at the school, Xander was pleased to note Cordelia's initial sneer was replaced by an admiring smile she wasn't successfully able to hide before she turned away.

As Xander walked behind his group of rug rats, he suddenly felt a cold wind blowing down the street. Hellmouth survivor that he was, Harris slowed down and looked around, instinctively knowing when something wasn't right. The next moment, the magic rushed out from the shop on Main Street and all over town those people that had bought their costumes from Ethan Rayne began to change.

Raw agony blistered Xander's nerves as the magic burned through him. The pain and the power built up until, with a piercing scream, he bent over, trying not to puke his guts out. The magic latched onto his soul as Xander's body was transformed by the spell empowered by the Roman god Janus. A new magical core was being created at the very depth of Xander's being, as a new persona took control of the corporeal vessel.

On the skin of his left arm, just below the elbow, the mark of Eyghon materialized as the spell completed its job.

Randall looked around in stunned disbelief. He was dead, he knew he was dead. Because he had lost control of Eyghon. The sleepwalker demon had fully manifested and taken over his body after the group had summoned the evil thing tonight and then...and then...

Randall choked, bile rising up his throat as he remembered the axe removing his head from his neck. The young Englishman then somehow managed to calm down and not lose it completely. Incredible as it seemed, somehow he was alive again!

"Xander? Xander!"

The name meant nothing to Randall. He looked around though, and saw a redheaded streetwalker heading his way through all the chaos and pandemonium, and so Randall automatically turned on the charm. "Hullo, luv. Who are you, then?"

The female teenager looked annoyed. "It's me, Willow. And why are you talking like that?"

"You're an American," Randall said in surprise. He briefly looked around at the upper-middle class suburban American surroundings, ignoring the screams of all the running people. "Where the fuck am I?"

"What? Oh my God, stop it – this is no time for jokes!" Willow scolded him, feeling scandalized by his use of the f-word.

Randall sneered at her. "So what time is it then, you uppity little tart? What do you charge for a decent shag anyway, I'm guessing quite a few quid an hour?"

Once she translated the British slang, Willow would have gone red if the chaos magic hadn't turned her into a ghost. "Oh, you are so gonna be sorry for that later, mister!" She stood in front of him, "Listen to me, we need to find Buffy!"

Randall was still confused and growing increasingly annoyed with his companion, so he tried to brush past her and instead walked right through her. "What the bloody hell? You're a ghost!" the possessed form of Xander Harris shouted.

"Yeah, I know, everyone's turned into their Halloween costumes!" Willow replied, coming closer towards her friend. "I mean, I dressed up as a ghost, and now I am one. You...uh, wait – Xander, if you're affected as well..." Realization finally hit Miss Rosenberg. "Oh God, you don't even know who you are, do you?"

"The name's not Xander, and I know bloody well who I am," the young man snapped in a perfectly natural North London accent. "It's you I don't know!"

"Okay, okay, listen to me," Willow started to say nervously. "My name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg, and we're currently in Sunnydale, California-"

The wheels were quickly turning in Randall's mind. He looked down at his jacket, and then at the young-looking hands sticking out of it. He instantly knew this wasn't his body. ( _Possession? It must be. That means...I really am dead, this is just something temporary. But who summoned my spirit back? And oh, shitty death but I'm in the body of a bloody Yank!_ )

"-and something crazy is happening okay but I'm on your side I swear and oh this is so really bad we need the Slayer we so need to find Buffy right now!" Willow babbled in his ear. Randall was surprised she managed to get all that out in one breath before he reminded himself the ghost girl didn't actually have any breath to start with.

"Half a mo', luv. Did you say Slayer? As in the Vampire Slayer?" Randall remembered what his friend Ripper had told him about once when they'd gotten high together.

"You know about demons and vampires?" Willow seemed astonished.

Randall didn't reply, he'd just seen a monster appear from across the street and decided to run for it. Willow followed him, and before long they came upon the possessed form of Buffy Summers.

"A demon! A demon!" the brunette 18th century noblewoman shrieked, hiding behind Randall at the sight of a sports utility vehicle driving slowly down the street.

"That's not a demon. It's a car," Willow explained to the frightened female.

"What does it want?" the noblewoman asked.

"Is this woman completely cracked or what?" Randall looked fed up, already mentally dubbing Buffy as "Lady Useless". He didn't care too much for ghosts either, so he was good and ready to leave both his female companions behind right now.

"No, she, she just doesn't know who she is right now," Willow said desperately. "Come on, we have to find somewhere safe and get off the streets. I know, Buffy's house isn't too far away. Follow me!"

Randall looked to be in two minds about it, but since Willow seemed to know a safe place to go right now he decided to follow her. Picking up the screaming Lady Useless and slinging her over his shoulder, the young man quickly made tracks after the redheaded spectre.

* * *

**1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale**

**A short while later**

Randall opened the kitchen door with the key they'd found hidden in Buffy's dress and led the two women inside. "Looks clear, luv."

Willow walked in and called out, "Mrs. Summers?" There was no response. "Good, she's not back yet."

"What is this place?" the possessed Buffy asked, looking around in wide-eyed wonder.

"It's your house," Willow said, before turning to Randall. "First thing's first, we need to make sure all the doors and windows are locked. I mean, I'd help, but y'know, ghost and all here..." Willow waved her hand through the sofa.

"I get it, ya little nummy treat," Randall smirked suggestively at her, which again would have made Willow blush if she could have. He turned around and headed for the front door when he heard a female scream outside. Cursing his own curiosity, Randall opened the door and saw a brunette female teenager running for her life from what looked like a Sasquatch.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Cordelia Chase yelled. Her Halloween costume was now torn and ragged, and right at this moment she was honestly wishing she'd stayed at the Mayor's party after all.

Randall cursed again then closed his eyes for a moment to concentrate. He wasn't sure if this would work, since this wasn't actually his body after all. But he figured it was worth a shot. It wasn't that unreasonable to assume his powers had come along with his consciousness for the ride tonight.

Back in 1975, when he had started running with the worst crowd that would have him – Ripper Giles, Ethan Rayne, Philip Henry, Thomas Sutcliff, and Deidre Page – he'd had to prove he had something worthwhile to contribute to the group. Randall's speciality had been fire: pyromancy, to use the technical term. He could summon it but he couldn't control it very well. There was as good a chance of killing the person that he was trying to help as there was of saving her.

( _She's dead anyway if I don't do something. And bloody hell, I want to do this one more time while I'm still here in the land of the livin'._ )

Randall reached deep within himself, extended his hands, and PUSHED. "Incendere!"

The results exceeded even his wildest expectations.

A huge wall of red fire blasted its way in front of the Big Foot, who only just managed to skid to a halt before it incinerated itself. The flames also just missed Cordelia as well, who screamed as she felt her hair get singed by the red-hot plasma. Still shrieking, the Chase girl saw the body of Xander Harris standing on the porch of the Summers house. With a burst of speed she ran over, yanked him inside behind her and slammed the front door shut.

Randall himself was still too stunned to notice or pay any attention to the ensuing conversation between Willow and Cordelia. The amount of firepower he'd just summoned...he knew he would never have been able to do that when he was alive in England. Either his host body had an ability he'd previously been unaware of, or whoever had summoned him from beyond the grave had greatly augmented his original powers.

Randall finally snapped out of it in time to hear the new brunette girl, dressed in the tatters of a tight-fitting cat outfit, speaking angrily with the ghost. "And another thing, Willow, look at my costume! Do you really think Partytown's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

"Here," Randall took off his leather jacket and handed it to her, "You can use it for now."

"Thanks," Cordelia said automatically as she put on the jacket. Then she said, "Xander? Will you please get rid of that damned nose ring, I told you that you look utterly ridiculous with that thing on!"

Randall stared at her, a leer slowly appearing on his face as he undressed the cheerleader with his eyes. "Do I know you then, luv?"

Cordelia was immediately furious with him. "I'm not your 'luv', you dorkhead! And what's with the Teabag Central accent?"

"Feisty one, aren't you?" Randall came forward and Willow knew things were now going to go from bad to worse. "Your friend Xander's not in the driver's seat right now, which is a benefit to all of us, I'm thinkin'. My name's Randall. And before you ask...let's just say I would be the best night of your life, pet. The real question though, and one I'd be most interested in knowin' the answer to, is: would you be the best night of mine?"

Miss Rosenberg moved as fast as she could to forestall the arrival of Hurricane Cordelia. "Cordy, please, ignore him! Look, Xander and Buffy aren't responsible for their actions right now, it's kinda like amnesia – they don't even know who they are." Willow looked around at all three of her friends. "Okay, you guys just sit tight. I'm gonna go get help from Giles-"

"Giles? Rupert Giles?" Randall interrupted in surprise. "Cor blimey, Ripper's here as well?"

Willow looked confused. "Ripper?"

"Were you talking about Rupert Giles or what, you dense little twit?" Randall snapped impatiently, completely forgetting Cordelia.

Willow looked annoyed at the name-calling, despite her own words to Cordy just now. "Yeah, he's Buffy's Watcher. You know him too?"

"Ye – oi, wait a minute, he's a Watcher now? What's the date?" Randall asked as Cordelia looked at him strangely. As soon as he heard the answer, the pyromancer looked like he needed to sit down. "Oh, bloody hell..."

"What's the matter with you?" Miss Chase demanded.

Randall stared at her. "I just learned that I've been dead for twenty-two years, luv. When I was alive and kicking in London Town I'd reckon that you lot hadn't even been born yet." He looked around, and made a decision. "Tell me where Ripper is, I'll go find him."

"No, it's better if I do it. Ghost here, remember? You need to stay here and keep Xander's body safe, all right? Please, Mr. Randall," Willow practically begged him. "I just don't want Xander to get hurt, okay?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. ( _Pathetic much, Willow? Why don't you just get down on your knees and declare your undying love for him, already?_ ) The brunette girl didn't know why that thought suddenly bothered the heck out of her, however.

Randall silently assented and Willow disappeared through the wall, just as Angel let himself into the house and the Halloween night started to become a lot more tumultuous.

* * *

**Ethan's Costume Shoppe, Sunnydale**

**November 1st, 1997**

**8:00 am**

The spell was over now and things were just starting to go back to normal on this sunny Saturday morning.

Last night, after arriving at Buffy's house, Angel had been lucky to escape being dusted as Randall quickly figured out what he was. Fortunately Cordelia had been there to vouch for the vamp, and the English rebel inhabiting Xander's body had reluctantly acquiesced to her wishes. Later there had been a rather tense episode when the Lady Buffy ran off into the night after seeing Angel's vamp face. Angel, Cordelia and Randall had soon found the noblewoman, after which they then had to escape from Spike's little hunting party.

Not long afterwards, the chaos spell had been broken and Buffy had kicked Spike's ass before he ran for it. Giles had found his old running mate Ethan, and beaten the crap out of him until the wizard had confessed that to end the spell one only had to smash the bust of Janus. Ethan had quickly run for his life while the Watcher had been distracted doing exactly that.

Giles was now back in the costume shop looking for his former partner in crime. The librarian walked in through the front door, noting with a frown how the shop was empty and deserted. Rupert then walked over to the main counter and looked around. He saw a note propped up on another counter and went over to it.

"Be seeing you," Giles read the note out loud.

"He's not here. I've already looked."

The Council operative whirled around in surprise. "Xander? What are you doing here?" In the ensuing silence, Giles frowned at the intense look the male teen was sending him. "Well?"

Xander shook his head, a damning and accusing expression on his face.

"Xander, for heaven's sake-"

"I'm curious. Were you ever going to tell us just what you were like during the Seventies, 'Ripper'?" Harris abruptly snarled.

Giles stepped back, worried and concerned. "What, what are you-"

Xander flung the leather jacket at the librarian and said scathingly, "Thanks for the loaner. Wanna hear something funny? I bought a fake nose ring off that asshole Ethan in here two days ago. Just to complete the look, y'know?" Harris yanked his shirtsleeve up and exposed the mark of Eyghon on his left arm, which for some reason hadn't disappeared when the spell was over. "Just my luck, the jacket's former owner decided to inhabit my body when your old buddy decided to do his mojo last night. Randall's sorry he missed you, by the way...old chap."

"You, you..." Giles couldn't find the right words. He stared at Xander with a combination of horror and disbelief.

"What, Giles? Did I remember everything after the possession was over? You bet your ass I did, British man. I remember Randall's life as perfectly as if I'd lived it all myself. His parents, his childhood. All of it. Right up until the moment you and your gang of lowlifes killed him," Xander spat out in disgust. "I can honestly say I really don't have the words to thank you for all the nightmares you've just given me."

Giles couldn't help it, he reached for his glasses and started polishing them. He knew he had to talk fast and honestly with this youth if there was to be any chance of salvaging their friendship. "Xander, despite what you may think, I...I'm not like that anymore, I'm not..."

"You're not what? You're not glad that you killed Randall in time to save your own ass after the wards were breached that night? You're not happy remembering the high you always got from summoning that damn sleepwalker demon into yourself? I can't believe how I actually used to look up to you," Xander said darkly as he turned around and headed for the door.

"Xander, wait!"

But it was too late, he was gone.

TBC...


	2. The Dark Ages

See Chapter One for Disclaimer and details. Wow, this one has gotten quite a number of reviews and feedback already. We definitely weren't expecting it, so please keep 'em coming! One person asked whether this was going to be a Xander/Giles 'ship; the answer is no. Not really our cup of tea, as the British would put it. Anyway, on with the story...

* * *

**Chapter Two: The Dark Ages**

**17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale**

**November 6th, 1997**

**7:24 pm**

The after-effects of the Halloween possession had been a lot worse than he'd anticipated: every night after he closed his eyes, Xander Harris could hear Ripper's voice saying joyously, "Time to go to sleeeep!" just before the axe hit his neck. Over and over again.

"Bloody toffing hell," Xander cursed, the British slang flowing smoothly from his lips before he'd even realized it. As he got up out of bed, Harris cursed again as he stared at the phone in his room. Just like so many other times before, he resisted the urge to call someone about his recurring nightmares.

( _Like, who COULD I talk to about this? Willow? Buffy? Forget it, they could never understand. Hell, with Randall's memories, they almost feel like little kids to me now. Deadboy? As if! He likes me just as much as I like him. Giles? Yeah, sure, I bet __**that**__ conversation would end well. Mm, maybe...maybe Ms. Calendar could be someone to talk to about Eyghon? She knows about this kind of stuff, after all._ )

Xander shrugged and went back to bed. It was ridiculously early, but thanks to the nightmares he hadn't been able to sleep much and it was all starting to catch up to him. Besides, his home environment wasn't exactly Norman Rockwell in nature and the boy preferred to avoid his parents whenever he could.

Elsewhere at that moment, while Buffy was doing aerobics in the library and driving Giles batty with the noise of her techno music, Eyghon was stalking his prey at the high school. Somehow, the sleepwalker demon had come back and killed Thomas Sutcliff a while ago before moving on. Philip Henry was running for his life from the possessed corpse of Deidre Page at this very moment. He pounded on the back door of the library but Giles couldn't hear him, Buffy's incredibly loud music drowning out the banging noises and the cries for help.

Eyghon quickly killed Philip and transferred itself into his corpse, as Deidre's body disintegrated into a puddle of slime.

* * *

**Sunnydale High, Sunnydale**

**November 7th, 1997**

**8:43 am**

Xander, seeing Jenny talking with Giles, made his way towards the computer science teacher. Willow and Buffy were with them as well, and when they noticed his arrival everyone stopped talking and stared at him.

"Hey, don't let me stop the conversation..." Xander started to say before understanding hit him over the head with a two-by-four. "Unless of course, I AM the conversation?"

"No, uh, we, we were actually discussing a medical transport that's delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital. Buffy and I shall be there tonight, uh, eight-thirty sharp," Giles said uncomfortably.

"Good for you," Harris said, ignoring the looks of his two best friends. "Ms. Calendar, can I speak with you in private?"

Jenny Calendar looked surprised at the request. "I'm sorry, Xander, but I can't right now. I have a meeting with the vice-principal in a few minutes." The teacher looked at her watch.

"Later, then?"

She shrugged. "Actually, the whole day's a bit of a write-off as well. We can talk about it tomorrow in class."

"Tomorrow?" Buffy asked. "Tomorrow's Saturday, and not of the days of school the last time I checked."

"I'm reviewing some computer basics for a couple of students who've fallen behind, namely Xander and Cordelia. Willow's helping out for extra credit. Actually Buffy, it might not be a bad idea if you came along too," Jenny told her.

The Slayer looked alarmed. "Uh, I have to go to the mall tomorrow! Errands, y'know! My mom has some things she wants me to pick up-"

"And the fact you've been raving about that shoe sale all week has absolutely nothing to do with this, right?" Xander asked cynically. Buffy glared at her friend, but to her consternation it looked as if Xander wasn't affected in the slightest.

Jenny said, "Well, I'd really like you to come Buffy. Slayer or not, you do still need to keep your grades up."

Miss Summers exhaled loudly, looking for all the world a Christian martyr going into the Roman Colosseum packed full of hungry lions. "Fine. Whatever."

The bell rang and Giles made his way back to the library as the gang split up and went their different ways. Not long afterwards he was paid a visit by the police. Philip's body had been found and Rupert had to take a trip to the town morgue to formally identify the remains. After returning to his apartment that evening, the Watcher placed a number of phone calls back home to England. Learning that both Thomas and Deidre were now also dead, he decided to bite the bullet and telephoned Xander to come over at once.

"Okay, I'm here. What is it?" Xander asked in an unfriendly tone after Giles let him into the apartment.

Rupert tried to be patient in the face of the antagonism. "I've got some bad news: Philip Henry was killed at the school last night. I did some checking today, a-and apparently Deidre and Thomas are also dead as well."

That was enough to break through the belligerent exterior as Xander's Halloween memories of the trio came to the fore. "What? How?" he demanded.

"That's what's worrying me," Giles said uneasily. "Xander...you, you've been having dreams about Eyghon lately, haven't you?"

"Every night." The hostility was now firmly back in place.

"Well, that's the thing: so have I. Combined with all the killings lately, well, I-I-I think it's back – Eyghon's returned somehow to try to kill those of us who, who used to summon him back in our wilder youth. Thomas, Deidre, Philip, Ethan, myself...and, and possibly even you as well. You do have Randall's mark on your arm, after all," Giles explained his hypothesis.

Xander just stared at him, before heading for the nearby table and gulping down some of the whisky in the Scotch bottle.

"Xander, what do you think you're-" Giles automatically began to rebuke him.

"Shut up! Don't you DARE try to lecture me, 'Ripper'," Harris interrupted, hissing at his former role model. "Because I can remember you bragging in the East End back then, how when you were my age you used to drink worse stuff than this!"

That automatically took the wind out of the older man's sails as he recalled the incident. ( _I really was one pissed-off young wanker then, wasn't I_, ) the librarian mused to himself. ( _Good Lord, how do I prevent this boy from making the same mistakes I did? There's got to be a way to get through to him._ )

All further thought was cut off as Buffy started banging on the front door. She wanted to know why Giles hadn't shown up at the hospital as planned and help her safeguard the blood supply delivery. Rupert went to the door, spoke to her briefly and then pretty much slammed the door in her face.

"Who was that?" Xander asked, as Giles came back to the table.

"Uh, it was Buffy. She, she wanted to know what was going on. I-I-I completely forgot about meeting with her tonight," the Watcher confessed.

Dismissing that at once Xander grunted, "Come on, let's dig out whatever books you've got here. It's research time. We gotta learn everything there is to know about this demon. I mean, I know whatever Randall knew, but I wanna find out whether anyone's discovered any way since then on how we can finally kill this thing."

Giles looked very dubious about the possibilities, but had to admit that he didn't have a better idea right now.

* * *

**School corridor, Sunnydale High**

**November 8th, 1997**

**9:00 am**

Cordelia Chase was extremely annoyed at having to come to school during the weekend and she wasn't afraid to share her views. "This isn't right. School on a Saturday, it totally throws off my internal clock."

"I'm sure you'll manage somehow," Xander replied without even bothering to look at her. He was looking a bit tired and disheveled, as he had spent most of the night on research detail before reluctantly coming in today. "Just try to pretend that you're on daylight savings time or something."

Cordelia glared at him immediately for the wisecrack, but its effect was muted by the fact Harris had his back to her and couldn't see it.

From the cheerleader's perspective, the dynamic between them had definitely changed lately. Ever since Xander had been possessed by that British guy on Halloween, the insults between them had taken on a greater shade of adult suggestiveness. Occasionally Cordelia couldn't help recalling the words spoken that evening: "I would be the best night of your life."

Added to how visually pleasing Xander appeared in his new too-tight equipment manager shirts she had arranged for him to wear, despite herself Cordelia had started thinking of her sparring partner in a different way than before. ( _Is it even remotely possible Xander could actually turn out to be more than decent-looking eye candy? As in, date-worthy material?_ )

Before she could think any further on that, Jenny and Willow went through the doorway into the computer lab, and Cordelia followed behind Xander. They found Buffy waiting for them and, after hearing what she had to say, the gang decided to skip the weekend class and find out what was going on.

Of course, since Xander already knew what was going on, he just silently followed the Slayer to the library. His presence went unnoticed in the background when Buffy captured Ethan, who was unsuccessfully skulking about in the stacks.

"I know you! You were the guy running that costume shop," Buffy glared at the British man.

Ethan smirked, "Oh, I'm pleased you remember."

"You sold me that dress for Halloween, and nearly got us all killed!" the Slayer yelled, infuriated.

"But you looked utterly fantastic in it-" Buffy punched him squarely in the jaw. "Owww! That hurt. So, now we're even?" the chaos mage asked politely.

"I'll let you know when we're even," Buffy said angrily. "What're you doing here?"

"Snooping around."

"Honesty. Nice touch," sneered the Chosen One.

Ethan smiled. "It's one of my virtues. Well, not really."

"I've got an idea: why don't I just call the police and have you arrested for breaking and entering, and then I can get back to my fun Saturday?" Buffy asked.

"I've got a better idea. Hello, Rayne man."

Ethan looked around in surprise, just before Xander's fist crashed directly into the same spot Buffy's had done. "Owwww! Bloody hell!" Ethan looked more closely at Xander. "And what did you call me?"

"So, did Philip ever find out you were screwing Deidre behind his back? You know, while everyone was hiding from the cops - thanks to your idiotic idea of trying to steal the Illuminata diamond from the British Museum?" Xander asked venomously.

Ethan's eyebrows threatened to hit the roof. "How did you-?"

"Halloween. The guy I got possessed by thanks to your nose ring that night? I can remember how you always used to call him horny or desperate for a shag every time someone called him Randy," Xander growled, ignoring Buffy's look of surprise.

Ethan went pale. "Randall?" he breathed in disbelief.

"What's going on here?" Buffy finally demanded. "Xander, what are you-"

"It's not safe for you to be around him. Or me," Xander interrupted her, making a decision that he felt he should have made last night. "Get out of here, Buffy. I need to call Giles."

"WHAT?" the blonde girl exclaimed in disbelief. "Xander, have you completely lost it? I'm not going anywhere-"

"Fine, then we are." Xander seized Ethan by the shirt and started dragging him out of the library.

"Hey, you're not going anywhere until you give me some answers!" Buffy shouted, very upset at her friend's behaviour.

Eyghon chose that moment to come crashing through a window in Giles' office. Ethan instantly stepped behind Buffy and used her as his personal shield, which was perfectly typical of him. Snarling, Philip's Eyghon-possessed corpse quickly came towards the humans after exiting the private office. "Ethan..." Then it looked at Xander in surprise and confusion. "Randall?"

Shocked, Harris unconsciously touched the mark on his arm. He wasn't certain what to do despite his recently acquired Halloween memories. ( _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!_ )

Buffy knew what to do and started to fight Philip's demonically animated corpse. Exchanging punches and kicks to the head and body, Slayer and demon fought viciously in a fairly even contest, slugging it out and starting to trash the library.

Xander suddenly spotted Ethan edging toward the library door and grabbed his shoulder, "Where do you think you're goin'?"

"Wasn't it the plan just now for us to get out of here? And if you truly were Randall, old boy, you should bloody well know who and what it is we're really up against. Now, I suggest we go find Ripper. If there's any chance of surviving this, we've all got to hang together. Otherwise, we'll all be hanged separately," Ethan said with a smarmy expression.

Xander was tempted to kill him, but at that moment Buffy kicked Eyghon directly into the book cage and slammed the door shut. She then turned to face the two males. While Xander was distracted Ethan took the opportunity to run for it, running straight into Willow, Jenny and Cordelia just entering through the library doors.

Fortunately for everyone except Ethan, Queen C incapacitated the sorcerer with a well-aimed knee to the crotch.

* * *

**Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale**

**A short while later**

Giles charged straight into the library, having received a phone call earlier from his Slayer. "Is everyone alright?"

"Super!" Cordelia said sarcastically. Then she added proudly, "I hit a guy right where it hurts the most!"

Buffy stared at her Watcher pointedly. "Giles, what the heck is going on around here?" She gestured towards the book cage. "And let's start off with what's behind door number one, shall we?"

Giles looked to be in complete shock at seeing the demon-possessed corpse and hearing its subhuman growls. "Philip? Oh God, it can't be!"

"Yes it can. Hello, Ripper," Ethan said from his seat, where Xander was standing, keeping an eye on him.

Willow suddenly remembered that that was what Randall had called the Watcher as well, back during Halloween. "Why'd he call Giles 'Ripper'?" the redhead whispered to Jenny, only to see the librarian walk over and yank Ethan up off the chair, holding him by the hair at the back of his neck. "Ohhh..."

"I thought you left town," Giles said angrily into Ethan's face.

"I did. Came back after I started having the dreams, strength in numbers and all, right?" Rayne seemed calm enough under the circumstances. "C'mon, mate, I'm sure you've been having them as well, same as the whelp here-"

"Watch who you're calling a whelp, Rayne man. 'Cause I could drop you like a sack of potatoes," Xander promised him.

"Oh please, Xander, I've seen you fight," Miss Chase laughed. "_I _could take you. Any day!"

Annoyed, Xander walked over to her. "Look, Cordy-"

"ENOUGH, PEOPLE! NOW, SOMEBODY START WITH THE EXPLANATIONS!!" Buffy yelled, sick and tired of everyone ignoring her.

Philip's body suddenly charged forward and broke through the book cage door, throwing it open into Xander and knocking him out when the frame hit his head.

"XANDER!!" Willow, Cordelia and Jenny shouted.

Buffy instantly jumped into action and fought Eyghon again. She kicked the demon in the chest three times, forcing it back against the cage. The human corpse slid down to the floor but quickly got back up again. Before Philip's mystically animated body could resume the attack though, its eyes went wide. The body began to convulse and collapsed onto the floor next to Xander. Just as before, the remains disintegrated into a puddle of slime which spread out along the wooden surface.

Everyone stared as Willow said, "Now, now there's something you don't see every day."

Cordelia looked sick. "I swear, I'm gonna be in therapy 'til I'm thirty!"

"Ethan. Where'd he go?" Buffy looked around. Sure enough, the chaos mage had run for it.

In the confusion, nobody noticed as the slime oozed closer to Xander. The boy's hand twitched once when the essence of the sleepwalker demon infected him and took control of his corporeal form.

* * *

**17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale**

**November 9th, 1997**

**7:24 pm**

Xander Harris was sitting on the floor of his bedroom in total darkness. His life felt like a complete nightmare at the moment. Despite the fact that Eyghon had finally been defeated and destroyed, Xander still couldn't look in the mirror out of fear of what he would see looking back at him. He knew the demon was gone, but still he couldn't make himself look.

Unlike the situation with Randall, Eyghon had been everything Xander had ever feared and much worse. Trapped and helpless within his own physically altering body, he'd had to listen to the demon's jeers and rants as well as watch himself try to kill the people who meant the most to him.

Still, now that the dust had settled so to speak, at least he was still alive, as were all those he cared about. Young Mr. Harris had survived despite the odds yet again. For the sake of his own sanity he had to believe that eventually he would somehow get past it as well.

Somehow. Eventually.

Not that Xander cared much, but Ethan had disappeared after it was all over, having left town most likely. Nobody had seen him after he'd decided to kidnap Buffy, burn off his own tattoo with acid and tattoo her with the mark to throw Eyghon off his scent. Unfortunately for him, the demon within Xander hadn't been fooled by the trick when the final showdown had taken place in Ethan's shop.

After Giles had confessed everything, Willow had come up with a plan to make Eyghon jump from Xander into Angel, where Angel let his inner van-tal obliterate the sleepwalker demon. Thus, the day had been saved at the last moment with no fatalities to Team Slayer.

Xander stared at the tattoo on his arm, briefly wondering whether or not to have it removed like Ethan had done and Buffy had said she would do. For a while various fragments of thought swirled around incomprehensibly inside his Xander-shaped head, before he was finally distracted by a knock at the door.

"Alexander? Your friends are here," his mother Jessica called out from the other side of the door.

Xander got up and unlocked his bedroom door. He saw Buffy and Willow standing there alone but he made no move to invite them in.

"Uh, uh, Xander! Hi!" Willow babbled. She wasn't sure what else to say now that she knew everything about what Giles, Ethan, and Randall had been like in the old days. There were also no secrets any longer about what Xander did or didn't remember.

"Willow. Buffy," Xander deadpanned.

"We've been trying to call you, but we never got anything except a busy signal," Buffy said, frowning at with the big lack of invitation into his room.

"Yeah, I, uh, I took the phone off the hook. I didn't want to be disturbed."

"But, but you're alright? Is, is, is there anything you need?" Willow asked desperately.

"I'm fine. And no thanks."

"Are you sure?" Willow persisted.

"Yeah. Positive."

"But Xander, after what you just went through you obviously need help-" Buffy started to say.

"Hey, what I need is for you two to stop treating me like I'm made of glass, okay?" Xander snapped, before he apologized at once. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But look, i-it feels like you guys are completely smothering me with all the concern, alright? Just...please, gimme my space for now. That's the best thing, the only thing you can do for me," Xander told his two special girls in no uncertain terms.

Willow turned around and fled, extremely upset and about to cry. Buffy just glared at Xander and said, "Well, I hope now that you're proud of yourself-"

"Don't. I mean it, Buff, don't even start with that crap!" Xander shouted at her, some of Randall's angry temper leaking through due to the stress of the situation.

The Chosen One definitely didn't like being talked to this way. "God, Xander, are you even listening to yourself? This isn't you and you know it! Just...snap out of it already!!" she yelled back at him.

"Yeah, right. Like YOU just snapped out of it before you smashed the Master's bones?"

"That's not the same thing and you know it!" Buffy yelled again, honestly not wanting to think about that part of her life.

"Buffy, I'm not gonna stand here and argue with you about this," Xander said roughly. "Look, I'm not 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' fine, but at least I'm coping a little. So the last thing I need right now is sermonizing or a damn guilt trip! I didn't ask you or Will to come over here, so go home and stay out of this. I get that you just want to help, but you. Can't. Help. Me!"

Shocked at his tone and words the blonde girl turned around and left, thinking to herself, ( _I better talk to Giles about this. He'll know what to do._ )

TBC...


	3. Office Romance

See Chapter One for Disclaimer and details. Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed and sent feedback, we truly do appreciate it; please don't think we don't. And now, without further ado...

* * *

**Chapter Three: Office Romance**

**Apartment B, 523 Oak Park Street, Sunnydale**

**November 10th, 1997**

**6:59 am**

"I don't know what to do!"

The British Watcher's tone of voice was a combination of annoyance, helplessness and concern. Giles paced around the breakfast table where Jenny was sitting as they talked, the librarian looking more than a little upset by recent events.

The relationship between Giles and Ms. Calendar had now moved far beyond that of mere friendship, and for a moment the Kalderash woman seriously contemplated telling her new lover her real name and the secret mission she was here for. ( _No, not yet, but soon._ )

Oblivious to her inner musings, Rupert said, "Jenny, I-I-I never wanted any of you to know about that part of my life, it's not exactly something I'm proud of. But now that the cat's out of the bag, so to speak, h-how am I supposed to deal with Xander if he can throw all my past sins directly in my face? I-if he knows every single idiotic mistake that I made back then?"

"I don't suppose you've thought about just doing what Xander asked of everyone and letting him work through his issues all by himself?" Jenny sighed. The topic of conversation really was beginning to depress her.

"Well, uh, if it was just me, I, I might very well do that. But, but just as surely as there's a Hellmouth directly beneath our feet, Buffy simply wouldn't accept such a course of action. Neither would Willow," Giles said.

"No offense, England, but I can't help thinking that you indulge the personal desires of those kids a little too much. I mean, dating a vampire?" Jenny asked, before berating herself for the choice of words and change of subject.

"Yes, well, certainly that is...somewhat unorthodox," Giles said uncomfortably. "But, um, Angel has proven himself time and again, and Buffy doesn't have to pretend to be someone she's not around him. And if I were to forbid her to see him socially she'd just continue to do so in secret without telling me," Rupert added reflectively, contemplating Jenny's words.

"Yes, you're right. And no doubt Willow would help cover for her," Jenny mused about her favorite student. "But we're getting off-topic here, Rupert. Are you sure you don't want me to talk to Xander?" she asked.

"Well, actually...all things considered, I can't see what else we could possibly try right now. So go ahead," Giles finally surrendered to the inevitable. "I can't see how that could make matters worse, anyway."

"All right. Now come on, let's get dressed. We're going to be late for school," Jenny smirked a little at her choice of words.

"Oh, joy," Giles groaned as they headed upstairs to the bedroom.

* * *

**Outside 17619 White Oak Drive, Sunnydale**

**November 17th, 1997**

**1:24 am**

The talk with Ms. Calendar had helped, and over the last week or so Xander had finally started to get over what had happened with both Randall and Eyghon, which had been a great relief to everyone in the know. He and Giles had talked as well and managed to put things into a sort of perspective. The two males weren't as friendly as they had once been of course, but at least they could work together again in the face of whatever the Hellmouth threw at the Scooby gang.

Xander's relationships with Buffy, Willow and Cordelia were a different matter though. Things had gotten so bad that Miss Chase had bitched at him earlier in the day, "Either get over what happened, or not, but don't just sit there in that hellhole you call a home and shut everybody else out. Or else pretty soon you're not even going to have the loser friends you do now."

It was somewhat telling that Cordelia's words had reached him in a way that everyone else's hadn't, and so Harris had gone to the Bronze tonight and ended up fighting a vampire in the rear alley for his trouble. Not for the first time the battered youth had wished he wasn't so outclassed in the face of an enemy four times stronger and nearly ten times faster than he was.

Xander entered his bedroom through the unlocked window and, with great ease after months of practice avoiding his parents, slid the window back down until he heard the soft click. The boy took off his clothes and got ready for some badly needed rest. Clad in nothing but his boxer shorts, Xander climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep. He had school in the morning, and couldn't afford to snooze his way through classes anymore. Thanks to the nightmares, he had already fallen too far behind in his studies as it was.

* * *

**A place where nothing is as what it seems**

**A few minutes later**

Xander looked around, more than a little confused. The surroundings felt oddly familiar to him, even though he was pretty sure he'd never been here before in his life. It was a nightclub of some sort, completely dark and dingy, and the Bay City Rollers were playing in the background. Some people were attempting to get down and boogie on the dance floor, but they were all wearing outfits that looked decades out of style, like something straight out of the...

The young man instantly got the creeping horrors. He recognized this place now.

The Lucifer Bar, circa 1975. Randall had often frequented this place in London before Ripper and Ethan had found him and recruited him into their little gang.

"Took ya long enough to get it, mate."

Xander whirled around and saw a face he knew almost as intimately as his own.

Randall. The nose ring was there, of course, along with the leather jacket. The Doors T-shirt was somewhat unexpected, along with the Doc Martens boots. But everything else was just as Xander remembered it, including the punk hairstyle.

"You're dead," he said reasonably, staring at this ghost of the past.

"Yeah, but so what? In your home town, sport, that doesn't prevent you from havin' an active social life." Randall chuckled and gestured to Xander to follow him as he went over to the main bar.

Xander followed him, not sure what was going on here. "So. Ya wanna make with the explanations, then?"

"You really did get all of my bad habits, didn't you?" Randall asked, as the barman served him a warm beer, the sight of which made Xander grimace with revulsion. "No patience at all. And oi, I saw that! You bloody Yanks, utterly no taste – where the hell did you lot ever come up with the idea of serving beer cold, anyway?"

"Probably back in the 18th century, after you guys decided tea just wasn't expensive enough and good King George decided to write "nothing important happened today" in his diary," Xander shot back, his memories of American history serving him well.

Randall burst out laughing, beer frothing between his lips. "Touché, Harris. But enough with the insults, we've got stuff to talk about. So, what'll you have?"

"I'll pass, thanks. No alcohol anyway, I don't want to end up like my parents one day," Xander said.

Randall nodded. "Damn smart of you. Well, you're probably wonderin' what in the blinding blue blazes is going on here?"

Xander shrugged. "Yeah. So is this a dream or what?"

"Sort of. You know how that Slayer of yours gets them prophetic dreams, right? Lady Useless was scheduled to 'ave one tonight, but with a bit o' help I managed to 'jack it instead. That's why we're able to have this little chat, a one-on-one I think you call it nowadays."

"Okay," Xander replied slowly. "So...?"

Randall then appeared to lose all appearance of levity. "First off, you should know that things aren't happening now exactly the way they were supposed to."

"So what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you dressin' up as me back on All Hallow's Eve instead of that soldier. That was never originally on the cards, Harris, but it happened anyway. Hell, that's chaos on the Hellmouth for you. But anyway, some master plans of some so-called higher beings were seriously messed up, mate," Randall said, sipping his beer again and pointing upwards with his free hand.

"What plans? What are you talking about?" Xander demanded.

"Can't tell ya details, those jammy bastards up there won't let me. Something about free will 'n some such rot," Randall shrugged, finishing off his beer. "All I can say is a lot of it involves the little tart who fancies you, Cordelia what's-her-name."

"WHAT? You mean Cordy?!" Xander exploded in disbelief. "Randall, are you out of your friggin' mind? She hates me as much as I hate her!"

Randall smirked. "Denial, laddie buck. Doesn't look good on ya. Way you two fight all the time, it's bloody obvious there's more between you than just wanting to kill each other. Hell, I can't understand what's the matter with you kids nowadays! Sassy 'n good-looking bird like that wanting you and you doin' nothing about it? Deep down you want her as well, so I don't get what you're waiting for."

Randall could instantly tell what – make that WHO – Xander was thinking about and added, "Forget about her, is my advice. And the sooner the better. Bleedin' heck, you know 'ow Lady Useless prefers 'em tall, broody and without a pulse! Which is a cryin' shame o' course, but there's nothing you can do about it one way or the other. Hell, I know all Slayers lose their marbles completely after a while, but this one really loves pushing the limit!"

"You're the one who's crazy, Randall," Xander shook his head even though, privately, he agreed about Buffy and Angel. "As in stark, raving bananas!"

"Am I? Then tell me, whose arse have you been ogling ever since you got used as the Slayer's lap-dance pole that night?" Randall asked pointedly. "Like I said, the blonde chit's not an option for you – never was, never will be. And who else are you gonna chase after? The redhead? Bit late if so – she's started makin' eyes at someone else, I've seen it. One of the few perks of bein' stuck in Limbo, gives ya such a wonderfully uncluttered view." The British apparition sat back and smirked.

Xander's eyes went wide as he digested the implications. Then he said, "Willow's interested in some guy?"

"Yeah, but relax Harris. Osborne strikes me as the loyal type, y'know, like a dog, so no need for you to start being an overprotective git about it." Randall abruptly got up from his barstool. "Time's nearly up, old son, and I need to give you something before I go. Oh, and by the by, you'd best keep an eye on Ripper's girlfriend. Trust me, you'll know soon enough what I mean."

Without warning, Randall grabbed Xander's right hand and interlaced their fingers, the man's eye sockets somehow suddenly appearing to contain twin flames of fire. As the pain of a thousand knives seemed to hit him out of nowhere, Xander woke up in his bed with an agonized scream.

* * *

**Sunnydale High School Corridor, Sunnydale**

**Later that day during lunchtime**

Xander leaned against the wall as he watched the students stream past him. He had been doing a lot of thinking lately after he'd found out there was indeed a boy named Daniel Osborne at the high school, a musician with one of the local bands. He was someone Xander had never met or even heard of before last night, and thus Harris was now convinced the dream hadn't just been a case of bad junk food or sleep deprivation.

( _Okay, there she is. Onwards into the breach,_ ) Xander thought to himself as he spied his target. ( _Man, I have got to stop watching late-night crap on TV!_ )

Cordelia Chase was walking along, seething after yesterday's discovery that her boyfriend – make that EX-boyfriend – had cheated on her. ( _That unfaithful bastard! Damn you, Devon. That's the last time I ever date a guy in a band. God only knows what kind of damage all this has done to my reputation around here,_ ) she thought to herself angrily.

All of a sudden she felt a strong arm grab her by the hand and yank her into a nearby utility closet. "What the-! Xander Harris, what do you think you're doing?!" Cordelia screeched at him, as he switched on the light.

"I wanted to talk to you," Xander said. "I heard about you and Devon."

"Oh, what, we're here for your gloat-fest? Fine, go ahead. Dazzle me with your witty repartee, with your oh-so-brilliant insults," Miss Chase said bitterly.

Thanks to the dream conversation with Randall last night, and much to her surprise, all Xander said was, "Devon was an absolute idiot to throw away what he had going with you."

"What?"

"I think you heard me, Cor."

"Yeah, but if this is some sorta joke...well, then I'm not getting it," Cordelia said, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"It's not a joke, Cordy. I know you, and I also know how much you worry about appearances," Xander patiently explained. "You were brutally honest with me about getting over myself and living my life again after everything since Halloween, so I just thought you'd appreciate it if someone told you the truth as well. A return of the favour, if you like."

"Right. Well, whatever," Cordelia looked at him peculiarly. "So, are we done here?" She was feeling very unsure of herself right at the moment, her conversations with Xander usually of the biting and snark variety and not the caring advice of a friend. Cordy needed some alone time to process what she'd just heard.

"Not quite yet, there's one other thing I wanted to ask you," Xander said.

"What is it?"

"Will you go out on a date with me on Friday night?"

If she was feeling shocked before, this made Cordelia ready to faint to the floor from sheer incredulity. ( _Have I just wandered into the freaking Twilight Zone?_ ) "You want me to do WHAT?!"

"You. Me. Date. Friday," Xander said slowly, staring directly at her.

"You're out of your mind! Or are you, like, possessed again? Wait, that's got to be it! We gotta go find Giles, he'll know how to fix this. That demon thing, or that Randall guy-"

"I'm not possessed, Cordelia; that's not it at all. Eyghon's dead and gone, and good riddance to him," Xander interrupted. "As for Randall? Granted, I still remember everything he said that night, but I'm asking if you want to go out with _me_."

"This is just way too crazy for words, you big dweeb," Cordelia said feebly, trying to organize her thoughts. She'd never in her wildest dreams ever imagined that Xander Harris, King of Cretins and Master of Lameness, would say such things to her. "Okay, prove to me you're not possessed."

Now it was Xander's turn to be confused. "Uh, how?"

"I don't know. Think of something!"

Xander hesitated. "Do you want me to tell you the truth? As in no-holds-barred and possibly painful truth?"

"If you think it'll help, fine." She crossed her arms and waited.

"All right." Harris took a deep breath. "Details aside, I had a very weird dream last night. And after I woke up this morning, I, uh, I thought about everything that's happened ever since we started school this year."

"Yeah, so?" Cordelia demanded impatiently, still looking pretty wigged out.

"So the fact is that, despite how you still annoy the shit out of me on occasion, you've helped the Scooby gang quite a lot ever since summer vacation." Xander began ticking off points on his fingers. "During Parent-Teacher Night, during Halloween, and most importantly during the mess with Eyghon," he said. "You even contributed to saving my neck by helping Will come up with the plan to sic Deadboy onto that sleepwalker demon's ass.

"It's like, on occasion, you care about more than just yourself. Maybe I'm beginning to figure out that there's a lot more to you than just surface appearances, a lot that's worth knowing. Deep down, I think you're a smart, good, caring, decent person – unlike the flock of sheep you hang out with. And that I wanted to take a smart, good, caring, decent girl like you out to dinner on Friday. Not that I can afford anything outside the price range of Bucky's Fondue Hut, of course, but still – the dinner invite is sincere, no strings attached."

He paused and stared into her eyes. "So are you convinced now that I'm not possessed?"

Cordelia Chase honestly didn't know what to say. This had all gotten way too surreal for her liking.

She had known Harris ever since kindergarten. There had even been a time when the two of them had been close friends. But Cordelia had changed, just as Xander had. The little kids they'd been had started to grow up and separate into cliques defined by status and money.

But, here and now, the girl remembered how Harris had literally gone through a wall of fire for her two months ago when she'd been kidnapped and about to become the Bride of Frankenstein. The young woman could think of no other guy who would be willing to do that to save her life, especially none of her ex-boyfriends. ( _I mean, I always thought Xander would never have eyes for anyone other than that bottle-blonde freakazoid he's been lusting after ever since day one. But, but if I was wrong and there's actually a chance he's serious..._ )

"Look, Xander. Even if this is completely on the level, it's all happening just a little too fast for my liking-" Queen C started to tell him.

"Okay, fine," Xander interrupted. "I don't wanna pressure you or anything. But, uh, I just wanted you to know this is how I really feel." He began to step around Cordelia to leave, but just before brushing past her, on impulse he leaned over and kissed her, almost as surprised at his impulsiveness as she was.

Caught off-guard and wide-eyed, Cordy didn't even struggle as Harris put to good use Randall's experiences and knowledge of giving a girl a kiss she'll remember, a kiss that lets her know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that for those few moments she is his entire world. After the initial shock, Cordelia's eyes closed and the walls she had created around her heart to deny the attraction she felt for the dark-haired boy began to crumble away.

But all too soon, just as she was letting herself relax and begin to return the kiss, Xander stepped back and smiled at her with an irritatingly smug expression. When he tried to step around her to finally leave the young woman wrapped her arms around his neck and yanked him back into a deep, soul-searing liplock, surprising Xander just as much as he had surprised her moments before.

After many long, heavenly moments they broke apart, both breathing heavily. Miss Chase recovered first, primly and swiftly smoothing out her blouse, and prepared to leave. "Seven-thirty sharp on Friday, mister. Don't even think about being late."

A bit dazed and still breathing hard, Xander could only nod his head. She spun on her heel and was gone before he could see the megawatt smile on Cordelia's face. Xander took another minute in the broom closet to calm himself down and then followed, also grinning hugely.

* * *

**Pool Area, Sunnydale High**

**November 18th, 1997**

**2:15 pm**

( _What do I do?_ ) Cordelia asked herself for maybe the hundredth time in the past twenty-four hours, sitting alone in the bleachers. ( _Xander Harris asked me out on a date. ME, Cordelia Chase, out on a date! Not to mention, he kissed me...and holy God, but there was total sparkage and fireworks. Xander Harris gave me the best kiss I've ever had...oh, is that totally crazy or what?_ )

At that moment, Harmony and Aura joined her in the stands. "Cordy?" called out the natural blonde.

"What is it?" Miss Chase demanded, a little irritated at having her thoughts interrupted.

"Uh..." Aura said, making sure no one was around. "What's going on with you? I mean, what's the deal with you and Xander?"

Cordelia looked at her warily. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, we've both seen it!" Harmony said, gesturing to Aura. "Like, nice body 'n all, and who knew. But ever since this morning, you've seemed kinda...a bit too interested in him."

Cordelia knew she couldn't say anything Hellmouth-related to these two, but that didn't mean she couldn't say anything at all about what had happened to her. "It's just – I've been thinking, is all."

"About what?" Harmony asked.

"Look, think about this for a moment," Cordelia told her friends. "Between the three of us, we've dated any and every guy of worth in this entire town. And they all turned out to be-"

"Jackasses?" Aura remarked bitterly, recalling the last jock who'd wanted into her panties.

"Exactly," Cordelia answered. "And that's not just the break-up with Devon talking. The sad fact is all they want us for is a trophy girlfriend that other guys wish they had gotten first. I've seen how that ends up after high school is over...and my mom is not who I want to become! I mean I get almost straight A's, and everyone expects I'm just going to giggle on cue for the rest of my life? Or just sunbathe by the pool while the man brings home the bacon? Well, forget that!"

"Okay, but you think Xander is any different? That he wouldn't want to get into your panties like all the other guys around here?" Harmony asked, finally figuring out where her friend was going with this.

Cordelia blushed, thinking about her encounter with Harris in the utility closet this morning. "Well, no, he's still just a guy." Cordelia paused, recalling how Xander never seemed to try insulting her when she was not at her best, as if he really paid attention to her and how she was feeling. "But you see...with that particular guy, I think the other five percent of the time he actually cares about _me_, y'know, as a person." She then smiled wickedly. "And I know exactly what buttons to push where he's concerned. So I'm thinking maybe I can mould Xander into whatever I want, as in like the exact opposite of Devon. He's already got the body for it, and I know I can change his clothes at least..."

"And thank God for that," Aura sighed.

Cordelia nodded and continued earnestly, "I know it's kinda out there, but think about it. Out of all the guys in this school...he's one of the damned few who seems like he can think about anything besides girls, sports and cars. It's like I'm a real person to him, and he actually cares one way or another. I mean, how else would Xander have kept up with me all these years?"

It was only the fact Harris had been their eye candy equipment slave for quite a while now that prevented Miss Kendall from rejecting the idea out of hand. "Well, I don't know Cordelia. But one thing I do know is that if you're serious about this...you're never going to win Xander over to your side by insulting his only two friends, the way we all do," she pointed out.

"Yeah, true," Cordelia sighed. "But all things considered, if I give that up, is that such a big price to get what I want..." she trailed off. "So, how about it? Are you guys with me on Project Dorkhead?"

Both other girls giggled at the nickname, as they glanced at one another. "I'm in!" Harmony and Aura said at the same time.

To Be Concluded...


	4. Bang And Burn

See Chapter One for Disclaimer and details. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and sent feedback for this story, either good or bad, we really appreciate it; I swear, honest. But this is it for this one, sorry folks but it's time to move on. And now, the conclusion...

* * *

**Chapter Four: Bang And Burn**

**Not far from the Oxnard city limits, southern California**

**November 22nd, 1997**

**6:03 pm**

Xander sat in the middle of the cheerleaders' mini-bus, studiously ignoring all the chattering from the females sitting around him. It was now way past sundown, they were only just starting to leave for home after the weekend football game was over, and he had bigger concerns.

It wasn't the driver's fault, not really. The game against Oxnard High's Blue Devils had taken longer than expected to finish, and with a pack of gossiping teenage girls taking so long to get on board the vehicle, the trip back to Sunnydale had been greatly delayed. Normally Xander wouldn't have cared so much, but after the recent incident with the Order of Taraka, he was decidedly jumpy. For that matter so was Cordelia, even though she would never admit it to him or anyone else.

The ancient order of assassins had recently come to town to kill Buffy in order to fulfill their contract with Spike. Three of their agents had arrived on the Hellmouth; Harris and his secret girlfriend had encountered one of the paid killers at Buffy's house, and had to run for their lives from Norman the Bug Man.

Fortunately, thanks to William the Bloody's habit of failing to pay his debts properly, it looked like the Order had finally decided to simply cut their losses and split town.

Well, that and the fact that both Spike and his sire Drusilla had most likely been killed in a fire the other night, during an unholy ritual at an abandoned church. Fortunately no one on the side of the good guys had been hurt during the fight, even though afterwards Cordelia had complained endlessly to Xander about her expensive shoes getting ruined by glue.

Ah, the sacrifices one often has to make for the cause...

Harris shifted in his seat, not looking forward to all the heavy lifting and carrying he would have to do once they arrived back at the school. ( _There go my plans for Bronzin' it tonight, I guess. Betcha by then it'll be way too late for anything except going home to good ol' mom and dad. Yes indeed__, home sweet home. Where the schnapps and bourbon do play, and the bleach smell in the basement makes me nauseous all day._ ) Xander made a face at his own thoughts, and tried to distract himself with something else.

Ever since he and Randall had talked in that dream version of the Lucifer Bar, the boy had definitely noticed some changes about himself. His habits of thought had subtly altered, his memory was a lot sharper, and he could handle most of his homework a lot better now. He had much more self-confidence too. Plus Babylon 5 and Wonder Woman comics no longer had quite the same attraction they once did. And as for last night's secret date with Cordelia...

( _Yowzers, but that girl definitely knows how to kiss. And who the hell would have ever thought that Harmony and Aura, of all people, would run interference for us_? ) Xander asked himself. ( _Not me, that's for damn sure._ )

The bus jolted as it came to a stop. ( _Hey, what's going on?_ ) Harris asked himself, putting aside thoughts about last night.

It was soon obvious what was going on when a couple of vampires in game face tore open the door and swiftly killed the driver by snapping his neck. ( _OH, CRAP!!_ ) Xander mentally shouted as he got up.

The bus was now full of screaming and terrified teenage girls. Working his way forward, Harris roughly shoved as many of them behind him as he could possibly manage. ( _Okay, may as well face it. It's official, odds are I'm gonna die!_ )

"I'm gonna have this one," one of the fang faces said, gazing lustfully at Aura.

"Fine, whatever. That blonde's mine," his partner replied, staring hungrily at Harmony. The two freelancers didn't want just to feed but to turn the cheerleaders as well, in order to gain instant hot-looking girlfriends as well as an evening meal.

"Get lost right now and I won't dust you," Xander warned them over the screaming, dimly aware that Cordelia was right behind him. Despite her fear, the buxom brunette couldn't let her boyfriend stand against the enemy all alone.

Ignoring the girl behind him for the moment, the two villains laughed heartily at the young male human. "You and what army, kid?" snorted the vamp who seemed to be in charge of the operation.

The expression on Xander's face changed and his accent unconsciously thickened. "Guess we're gonna have to 'ave ourselves a big ol' party, then..."

Later on, when asked, Xander couldn't explain how he did it. After Halloween, he had tried to replicate what Randall had done in order to save Cordelia from that Sasquatch, but to no avail. The power had been the British pyromancer's and not his thus, believing it gone, Harris had basically shrugged to himself and thought no more about it.

But now the young man felt the familiar build-up of energy deep within himself. He shouted to Cordelia, "Get back!"

"What-?" Cordy started to panic as her boyfriend's body began to feel very hot, and she ignored the vampires' confusion. "Xander, stop it, what are you...Xander, NO!!"

Ignoring her completely, Harris PUSHED with his hands. "Incendere!"

A searing stream of fire erupted into existence, flowing roughly in the direction he was "pushing". Within microseconds, both bloodsuckers were wishing they'd taken option number one and left while it was still possible. Before they had a chance to make any sort of escape, they both screamed in agony as they burst into flames. Like the soulless demons they were, both vampires were consumed by the red-hot plasma Xander had somehow ignited.

It was Randall's last gift to his former host, the restless spirit begging a favour from Janus to aid Harris the only way he could, in order to give the boy the one worthwhile thing he had to offer and try to make up for a lifetime of petty crime and wasted opportunities. The god of chaos, Janus, whose two heads saw into both the past and the future, had subsequently granted the request for its own reasons and had arranged to allow Randall to finally move on.

As well as dusting the vampires, Xander's heat blast took out most of the dashboard and front windshield of the bus, since he wasn't able to aim his supernatural weapon with anything more precise than "that general direction". All the girls on the bus continued shrieking and yelling their lungs out, terrified they were going to burn to death inside the vehicle if the bus caught on fire. But the flames disappeared right after the undead were no longer an issue.

Apart from Cordelia, the cheerleaders couldn't cope with being slapped in the face by reality this way. As the screaming started to trail off most of them collapsed down into their seats in glassy-eyed shock. But Cordy just ran forward to the front of the bus where she found Xander unconscious, blood haemorrhaging out of his nose.

"XANDER!!" the young woman screamed.

* * *

**1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale**

**The same time**

Willow Rosenberg believed she had a Ph.D in all things Xander Harris and knew how he was hurting from everything he'd gone through lately. She wanted to go over to his house and hug him so tight it would somehow magically make all the badness go away. But Willow also knew it simply, unfortunately didn't work that way, at least not once you were over six years old.

"I hate this, Buffy," Willow confessed in anguish to the Slayer, as the two girls talked in Buffy's bedroom. "I mean Xander's in pain, and I'm supposed to just sit here and do nothing? I get that that's what he wants, but it's, it's, it's wrong! I, I wanna help him...but at the same time I know if I try it'll just make things worse by getting him mad at me all over again!" The distraught young woman looked like she was at the end of her tether.

"You can't help someone who doesn't want it, Will. Giles and I talked, and he made that pretty darn clear to me last night," the Chosen One replied. "But hey, Ms. Calendar was sounding optimistic last time I talked to her. Maybe she can get him to snap out of it and go back to normal. Or I can try to pound some sense into the guy, Slayer style?"

"I don't think that'd work, Buff. Especially where Xander's concerned, he really can be pretty stubborn about some things. I mean, look at Angel: it's been over a year and Xander STILL doesn't like him," Willow offered apologetically. "What are you gonna do, threaten to beat him up or feed him to a vampire? Xander's gonna know it's a bluff."

Buffy had no answer for that and so, with a shrug, decided to change the subject. "I saw Angel just this morning, actually. Thank God, he's finally getting better after being stabbed with that cross. Jeez, but he was nearly killed that night as well, I was so worried..."

Willow smiled, willing to put the Xander situation aside for now. "And now you're enjoying playing nursemaid?"

"Every single moment," Buffy giggled. Then she stared at the redhead, "What?"

"What, what?" Willow tried to look innocent.

"Come on, I saw that look!" Buffy laughed. "Spill, already!"

"Well...I, I think I might have kinda met someone," Willow blushed and grinned innocently.

"Who? Who?"

"His name's Oz, and he's a senior. He plays the guitar for 'Dingoes Ate My Baby' too." Willow saw how Buffy was still confused. "Uh, he was the guy who got shot by that assassin police lady, remember?" Buffy remembered and nodded her head. "He was kinda funny when we talked yesterday. Oz really made me laugh with that whole hippo and the monkey pants thing!" the redhead smiled in delight.

The Slayer recalled the boy in question more clearly now. ( _Hmm, okay, well, this sounds promising. Hey, he could be just what Willow needs to finally get over Xander!_ ) Then she checked her alarm clock and frowned at how late it had gotten. "We should get going to the Bronze, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Willow said, getting up. "Oh, you think maybe Xander's gonna be there by the time we show up?"

"Yeah. I mean, he must have gotten back from the game in Oxnard by now."

* * *

**Channel Islands Surgical Center, Oxnard**

**Later that night**

Xander finally woke up with a monster headache. He found himself lying in a hospital bed in a standard white gown, with some tubing in his nostrils and an I.V. drip in his arm. "Oh...what happened?"

"Mr. Harris? How do you feel?"

The headache subsided and Xander looked up to see a 40-something doctor staring at him intently. He asked in confusion, "Who are you? And where the hell am I?"

"I'm Dr. Roberts, and you're in the Channel Islands Surgical Center here in Oxnard. Don't worry, you're safe now. Everything's going to be fine," the doctor said smoothly.

"What happened to me?" Xander demanded, not bothering to hide his annoyance at being treated like a child. "Last thing I remember, all the girls were screaming when I-" Luckily, the young man managed to shut himself up in time before mentioning anything about vampires and magic.

"Yes, I've already heard some of the witnesses making their statements to the police. And I must say, it feels nice to be able to treat a genuine hero for a change," Dr. Roberts smiled as he examined his patient and then removed the oxygen tubing from Xander's nostrils.

"Huh?" Xander honestly didn't get it. ( _Me, a hero?_ )

"You don't remember? Those two gang members who attacked your bus and killed the driver, and then attempted to start a fire on board the vehicle before you chased them off. Is any of this at all familiar to you?" The M.D. looked concerned now, wondering if his patient was more severely concussed than first thought.

"Oh...yeah, yeah, I remember that now," Harris replied, shaking his head. As a cover story it explained almost everything. ( _And anything else that didn't fit into that good old cheerleader world-view must have just been repressed, like the vamps dusting right in front of their eyes. Okay, I can live with that._ ) He decided not to think about being able to use Randall's pyromancy ability again for now, it was a can of worms that had to wait for later. "Sorry, the old noggin must have been a bit scrambled there for a moment."

"I see. Well, you should know that there was a bit of blood loss from your fall in the bus, so we've rehydrated you as much as possible and given you some antibiotics in case of infection. But apart from that, I'm sure you'll soon be fine-"

"So then can I get out of here? No offense, but I really don't like hospitals," Xander said in no uncertain terms.

The doctor shook his head. "I want to keep you here overnight for observation. You're not scheduled to be discharged until tomorrow morning."

"Look, I've been hit on the head before. That's how I can tell that this is practically nothing," Xander insisted. "I know the date, I know who's President, I know when my birthday is and how many fingers I'm holding up right now. I'm not gonna be driving or going to school tomorrow. I won't be touching alcohol, and yes, I am fully aware that I'll be leaving against medical advice. If there's any need for me to come back to this place before I go home to Sunnydale, I will, but right now I just want to sign the damn forms and get gone."

Dr. Roberts frowned, his suspicions aroused by Xander's depth of knowledge as well as his adult mannerisms. It indicated to the medical professional someone who had been through the system way too often for his liking. Nonetheless he examined the boy again, carrying out all the standard exams which he thought applied.

"All right, I'll get the paperwork started," the doctor said eventually, after he'd satisfied himself there was no discernable danger and he started to remove the I.V. "Since you're a minor, we'll need an adult's signature on the release form though. Do you want for us to call your mom or dad? Apparently some of your classmates have already done that, their parents are on their way from Sunnydale."

"No, that's fine. I've already signed the school's release form, so I'm sure Mrs. Nelson or whoever can sign me out," Xander said quickly. The last thing he wanted was his drunken parents – and since it was a Saturday night, just as sure as death and taxes those two WOULD be drunk right now – showing up here and making a spectacle of themselves.

"Very well. Now, I believe you have a visitor waiting to see you," Dr. Roberts said as he walked to the door.

"A visitor? Who?" Xander wanted to know.

Cordelia subsequently rushed into the room, almost looking frantic. "Are you all right? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Cor, I'm fine-"

That was all he had time to say before the busty brunette grabbed him and shut him up with a deep kiss. "Thank God, I was so worried!" Miss Chase exclaimed, after they finally came up for air.

"Hmm. Chocolate-flavoured Cordy kisses, now that's something I think I could get used to," Xander instinctively joked to cover up the awkwardness. The intimacy between them was something still very new to both teenagers, after all.

"Jerk!" Cordelia hit him on the arm. "Do you have any idea what you put me through? When you collapsed and started bleeding on the floor like that, it must have put age lines on my face from all the screaming! And I'm too young to have a coronary because of you!" she snapped.

"Check, cancel all scheduled coronaries for Cordelia Chase," Xander replied with a straight face.

"Uggghhhh..." the girl had to restrain the urge to clobber her boyfriend senseless.

"So what's the deal with the cops? The doc said they're treating it as a 'gang attack' or whatever," Xander used those two words very sarcastically. "That was your doing, right?"

"Of course. I mean please, I have SOME experience at covering these things up! I've been hanging around you and your tweako friends for...way too long," Cordelia briefly wrinkled her nose at the time involved. "We need to talk. The police are probably gonna be here any second, I heard them saying they want to interview you."

The couple made sure they had each other's stories straight, before Miss Chase went to the room's closet to get Xander's clothes. She thought it would make a better impression than if Harris was still in a hospital gown, but then the girl literally cringed at the sight of the blue and white Hawaiian shirt. "That's it, this is the last time you're wearing anything like this in public! Tomorrow, I'm getting you a whole new wardrobe. No boyfriend of mine is gonna look like he gets his clothes from the Salvation Army!"

"Hey!" Xander said automatically, before his brain caught up with his mouth. "Wait up, I'm your _boyfriend_ now? After just one date? That's...kinda unexpected." He smiled. "And kinda nice, too."

Cordelia hesitated for a moment, not sure what to say. The whole 'boyfriend' thing had just popped out of her mouth without thought. Then her naturally forthright manner reasserted itself. "Well, if I'm not your girlfriend, then what am I? Just someone you like to kiss and grope in the school broom closet?!"

"No! You're not..." Xander quickly relented. "Okay, fine, you win. We've now officially taken the off-ramp from casual groping, and gotten onto the interstate of significant othership. And where that'll lead, I have no idea." Xander shook his head, marveling at the weirdness of Cordelia publicly claiming him for herself this way. "Anything else I oughta know before the cops come?"

"Yeah, there's something I've wanted to ask you ever since the Hellmouth weirdness caught up with us tonight. Why the hell didn't you tell me that you could still do that fire thingy like you did back during Halloween?" Cordy demanded huffily. "Because I thought we were gonna die tonight, mister. It woulda been nice to know there was actually nothing to worry about!"

"Uh, Cor? I didn't tell you because, um, well, I-I didn't know I could. The whole dragon breath thing came totally out of left field, right up until that moment I pretty much thought those two vamps were gonna kill us all," Xander confessed as his female companion went way too pale. "Cordy, are you okay?"

"No. When I get home tomorrow, I am so definitely raiding my mom's supply of Midol," the dark-haired girl muttered.

"Tomorrow?"

Miss Chase dragged herself back to reality, "Yeah, it's too late to head back to Sunnydale now, what with the whole hospital and police interviews thing. They're going to send a new bus for the cheerleader squad in the morning, so we're all staying at a hotel tonight. Most of our parents are rich as, after all."

"Yeah, but I can't afford a hotel room," Xander said, wondering if he should change his mind and stay at the hospital after all. "No way in hell my parents are ever gonna pay for one."

"So what are you gonna do, walk all the way back to Sunnydale? At night?" Cordelia told him scornfully. "Don't be an idiot, Xander. You saved over a dozen girls from getting killed. Or worse. So I'M taking care of the accommodations this evening. Understand?"

"If you say so, sweetheart," Xander shrugged to himself as he finished getting dressed. ( _Huh. I guess there are some perks associated with that whole 'hero' thing, after all._ )

"I do say so," Cordelia replied, secretly pleased with the term of endearment. "Now get your ass in gear, and call someone to find out what the hell's taking those two detectives so long to show up. I want for us to get the hell out of this hospital as soon as possible."

* * *

**Abandoned Factory, Downtown Sunnydale**

**A few hours later**

The Master vampire named Spike was fuming tonight, like he had nearly every moment ever since Buffy had dropped a church organ onto his back and crippled him.

More than once, Spike had wondered whether or not he and Drusilla should simply get out of town until he had fully recovered, but every time the thought occurred to him it was drowned by the howling rage and desire for revenge on the blonde bint. Besides, he was in no shape to drive and, if not for Drusilla doing his hunting for him, William the Bloody knew he would be a complete starving wreck right now. ( _Can't afford to feel weak 'n useless, even if I bloody well look it. Just gotta concentrate on getting out of this damned chair!_ )

"Oh, my poor Spoike," Drusilla suddenly babbled, attracting William's attention. "You're not 'appy, are you? D'you want for me to get you something?"

"No, luv," Spike grunted, acutely aware of all the minions staring at him. "Just planning on how I'm gonna make that chit pay for what she did, is all."

Drusilla cocked her head, as the once-weak vampiress stared at her boyfriend and childe. The ritual which had almost killed Angel had healed her physically, but the madness still remained. "You mean the Slayer who took Daddy away from us?"

"Yeah," Spike said simply.

"He's not really my Daddy, though. Daddy roars and sings amongst the stars like sunshine. Like a campfire with tasty white marshmallows. The kitten, oh my kitten's gonna be so angry thanks to that big 'orrible beast down there. The fire, it burns, it burns!!" Dru shrieked, as a vision suddenly overwhelmed her mind.

"What's all this, then? Come on, pet, tell me everything," Spike wheeled his way over to his creator.

Oddly, Dru began to whimper. "That nasty thing what looks like maggots, but smells like jasmine...she's going to be ever so cross, she will! Her mummy's not going to be her mummy no more, she's going to be a very naughty girl instead. Oh!" Drusilla said haughtily, like the prim and proper 19th century woman she'd once been. "That strumpet should be spanked for playin' with my kitten. She doesn't deserve to be served tea and biscuits in the manor either."

"What girl? What kitten? And what bleedin' manor are you talkin' about, luv?" Spike looked hopelessly confused.

"Soon, my sweet Willy. The moon and the stars, they whisper their secrets to me like pearls 'n diamonds, my precious 'eart," Dru said joyfully as she jumped into Spike's lap and nearly made the wheelchair topple over. "I want a party, it's been ever so long since I had one. There'll be hats and gifts and party favours for everyone!"

Spike grinned, unable to deny his beloved anything. "Whatever you want, poodle. Hell – I promised Angel you'd have your coming-out party, didn't I? Yeah, and it'll be a party the likes of which that ponce will never forget, I promise you..."

* * *

**GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel, Oxnard**

**November 23rd, 1997**

**12:01 am**

Xander sighed in blessed relief as he climbed into the bed and switched off the light. He had just gotten off the phone with Jenny Calendar, absently rubbing the mark of Eyghon on his arm throughout the conversation. Constantly hearing Giles say "Good Lord!" after the gypsy woman relayed bits and pieces of what had happened to him had been annoying enough Harris had given up on playing nice already.

"Look, we'll discuss this in detail on Monday. Just tell Ripper and the girls not to bother me until then," he had said, before hanging up on Sunnydale. Not that Xander really believed those three would honour his wishes, but a man could dream.

After he and Cordelia were done with the police, and the cheerleader coach had signed him out of the hospital in loco parentis, all the school kids had gathered at the hotel to rest and recover from their 'stressful ordeal'. But what Xander hadn't been expecting was for the cheerleaders to corner him and his girlfriend, demanding an explanation for what they'd seen on the bus.

Whether it was the lack of supernatural Hellmouth energy or something else which had caused the girls to fail to repress for long, Harris didn't know. But either way, with Cordelia's help, he'd given them a modified version of Giles' "this world is older than you know" speech. There had been no other choice: Harmony, Aura, Kate, Gwen, Joy, Aphrodesia and a number of others just wouldn't accept that they'd seen two gang bangers in thundering need of a facial, and the explosions of dust merely a trick of the light.

Anyway, Xander and Cordy had given them some info about the Hellmouth and its supernatural 'night life'. Just the basics, such as: don't ever invite anyone into your home, stay indoors or in public places after dark, always carry some holy water or a stake, stuff like that. Xander had very carefully avoided all mention of the Slayer though, flashing a look to Cordelia for her to do likewise. That was the last thing they needed, for the Chosen One to be the focus of school gossip even if these girls didn't know who Buffy actually was.

Much as he'd disliked doing so, Xander also had had to explain about Randall and how he seemed to have inherited the long-dead British pyromancer's magic abilities. He hadn't missed some of the girls staring at him like he was now their personal saviour, although the looks from some of the cheerleaders checking him out as potential boyfriend material had gone completely over his head.

Not Cordelia's, though. She had anticipated something like that might happen, given how her man had saved everyone's life tonight. As if by divine right, Queen C had proclaimed Harris hers: thus one glare was more than enough threat. No girl wanted to be cast out of the popular clique, so the battle was over before it had ever actually started.

Mrs. Nelson knew nothing about such power plays, though. The cheerleader coach and de facto chaperone for tonight's little sleepover was feeling stressed out by other things, such as how she was going to explain everything to Principal Snyder on Monday morning. The poor woman was sure the troll was going to blame her for the entire mess somehow, even if she hadn't even been on the bus during the incident.

The coach decided to ignore all that for now and simply get on with the bed check, making sure everyone was asleep in their own rooms. Mrs. Nelson especially wanted to make sure none of the girls decided to sneak into Xander's room to personally 'thank' him. Not that she really believed Harris was the type to try to take advantage of one of her cheerleaders but, with their emotions out of control due to recent events, one of the silly young things might decide to do something stupid. There was no point in tempting fate if you didn't have to.

"Mrs. Nelson? Mrs. Nelson!"

The middle-aged woman was distracted from watching Xander's room and walked around the corner where the cheerleaders had a row of suites all alongside one another that extended to the next corridor. "Harmony? What are on earth are you doing up at this hour?"

"Please, I can't stay here in this hotel, it's just too totally gross!" the blonde whined as loud as she dared. "I mean, the shampoo they have in my room sucks. If I put that stuff in my hair, I'll have nothing but split ends all over the place tomorrow. And the facial cream? As if! No way am I gonna exfoliate with that cheap-o brand of paint remover!"

Mrs. Nelson sighed in deep emotional pain as she grabbed Harmony and started to haul the girl back to her room. Not far away Aura, who was on lookout duty just as Harmony was the designated distraction, nodded to Cordelia.

Miss Chase instantly marched straight towards her boyfriend's room, used the extra key given to her since she had paid for said room, turned the doorhandle and let herself in. Just before closing the door, she reached around and hung the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the handle.

Within the darkness of Xander's room Cordelia was wearing her Sunnydale High cheerleader uniform, complete with pom-poms. In the conversation a few minutes ago between herself, Aura and Harmony, it had been the consensus that no guy would mind being woken up by a hot-looking cheerleader climbing into his bed in order to be 'the best night of his life'.

In a higher dimension, Randall started laughing his ass off as one of the so-called Powers standing alongside him started tearing her metaphorical hair out.

**The End**


End file.
